United win ninth straight cup game at home

Scott McTominay’s extra-time goal was enough to settle the game, and extend a winning run at Old Trafford which stretches back to January 2017.

The landmark was first achieved between 1908 and 1912 – the period in which we won our very first FA Cup (1909) under legendary manager Ernest Mangnall.

Those games were split between Bank Street (five) and Old Trafford (four), with the tally at our current home including a 2-1 victory over Blackpool, in a game originally scheduled to take place at Bloomfield Road but switched for financial reasons.

Our current streak began against Reading in 2017, where a 4-0 victory helped Jose Mourinho’s team progress to the fourth round. A Wayne Rooney strike began the scoring, taking the Scouser level with Sir Bobby Charlton on 249 goals at the top of the club’s all-time goalscoring charts, before Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford (2) added further gloss.

Mourinho added three more home cup wins – against Wigan, Derby and Brighton – before his departure in December 2018.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took up the run in January 2019, and also kicked off with a win over Reading – goals from Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku did for the Royals this time.

A third-round replay win over Wolves the following year kept our impressive home form going, and this year we have continued in the same vein.

Scott McTominay was the hero in round three, where his early header dispatched Watford, on the night the midfielder captained the senior side for the first time. The draw that followed pitted us against arch-rivals Liverpool in round four.

The first-ever behind-closed-doors meeting between the two historic clubs at Old Trafford turned into something of a classic: both teams enjoyed spells in the lead during the game, before substitute Bruno Fernandes speared in an excellent late free-kick to settle the match 3-2 in our favour.

Tuesday’s narrow victory over David Moyes’s Hammers drew us level with Mangnall's vintage.

Now we await Thursday’s draw to see if we’re rewarded with another home tie, and a chance for the outright record.

UNITED’S RECORD CUP RUN AT OLD TRAFFORD

2016/17
United 4 Reading 0 (Rooney, Martial, Rashford 2)
United 4 Wigan 0 (Fellaini, Smalling, Mkhitaryan, Schweinsteiger)

2017/18
United 2 Derby County 0 (Lingard, Lukaku)
United 2 Brighton 0 (Lukaku, Matic)

2018/19
United 2 Reading 0 (Mata, Lukaku)